December 3rd is UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities

December 3rd 2010 will mark the 19th annual celebration of the United Nations’ (UN’s) International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This annual celebration was established in 1981 by the International Year for Disabled Persons, to promote a better understanding of disability issues with a focus on the rights of persons with disabilities and gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of the political, social, economic and cultural life of their communities.

The theme of this year’s observance is Keeping the Promise: mainstreaming disability in the Millennium Development Goals. The UN will mark this milestone with two days of seminars, lectures and a disability film festival, while disability, advocacy and governmental organizations are encouraged to hold celebrations in their own communities.

“Governments need to do more to support people with disabilities. That means implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” remarked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “On this International Day, let us recognize that the battles against poverty, disease and discrimination will not be won without targeted laws, policies and programs that empower this group.”

For more information on this observance, visit  http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1540

Monet had Cataracts

I love impressionistic paintings. They are a marvel of color, textures and optical illusion! It is like painting the trees and getting the forest….How did the Masters do it? I recently found out that Monet, one of the great impressionistic painters, had cataracts and that is what made him paint the way he did. He had to get close to the canvas in order to paint. He hated his style once his cataracts got worse. He didn’t value its beauty….Thank goodness that others did. We are now lucky to have had him in the world with cataracts and we can enjoy his beautiful work.

On the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a group of architects toured the Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind. This is an amazing facility that trains and employs visually impaired people to manufacture many items from eye glass cases, highlighters, and even military shovel carrying fanny packs. It was an “eye-opening” experience (pun intended). These people are truly incredible. They are able to use computers with a software that read them what is on the screen. But the software doesn’t read it like an audio CD that you read for fun….it speed reads. One of the trainees demonstrated the software and he had it read what was on the screen in the speed that he can understand. All I could hear was gibberish….it was reading 120 words a minute…. and he could actually understand it! INCREDIBLE!!!

There is also a software that assists in reading called J.A.W.S.  this makes the text bigger as needed.  We also saw the others at work at sewing machines, assembly lines and their individual stations where they put together all sorts of products that are sold to companies. These people are so good at what they do, that all I could do is just open my mouth and be in awe!!!

The building was also designed for the low vision people that worked there. The door frames were a contrasting color to the doors and walls so that they could “see” that there was a doorway there rather than just a wall of the same color. Their bathrooms had circular mirrors so that they would not think it was a window they were looking through. And many other items such as braille at signs, truncated domes on ramps so they can detect the change in environment, and they even use their sense of smell to move around their space.

That experience really made me think of the disability and how truly remarkable our bodies (and these wonderful people) are that they can adjust to their limitations.

Disability Faux Pas

On my last Blog post about removing barriers from your home, my friend Wally Dutcher pointed out that I had made some disability blunders.  My description of my client refered to her as "wheelchair bound".  Wally uses a wheelchair and reminded me that he is not "bound" to his wheelchair, he "uses" his wheel chair.  If he were bound he would have to be untied before he went to bed.  So simple, and yet so commonly forgotten.
He sent me this website and I thought it was such good information on how best to speak with and speak about people with disabilities.

I generally do not interact with the patrons who are disabled that will be using the facilities that I review and inspect or sometimes the one's that I design.  I am most of the time assisting the general contractor, architect or building owner.  And most of the time the same people that I interact with are the same who make the same mistakes as I do.  So it's a vicious cycle of unintended mis-statements.  In an effort to be more sensitive to our friends who are disabled, here is an interesting table that I found on one of the websites that Wally sent.

Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride Week in Dallas, Texas

On Saturday, March 27, DFW will host the Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride. In fact, March 21 – March 27 is officially Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride Week in Dallas.

The ride is registered, and not cheap: it’s $50, plus any additional donations you may be able to raise. It’s a wonderful cause, helping young disabled veterans recover an active lifestyle, and the ride is unforgettable and inspiring. PLUS--I am the ride director, and I’ve never done this before, so I am hoping some of my cycling buddies will participate!

Here is the info on the ride:

The DFW Soldier Ride starts at 10 am, Saturday, March 27 at the Dallas VA, (4500 Lancaster Rd) and winds up at the Ft Worth Police Academy.

The Wounded Warrior Project is bringing 25 disabled service vets to ride the 40 miles between Dallas and Ft Worth. Local riders are invited to join them, and form teams--it’s a registered fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project. Individuals can ride along, or support the ride as volunteers, donors, or come out to see the ride along the route.

Onsite registration will be available at 8:30am on the 27th; 

Disabled vets ride free; volunteer marshals, etc. are WELCOME—call me!

The ride officially ends at 4pm with the mayor of Ft Worth at the Police Academy, and there are a number of cool events in downtown Ft Worth that day. Those who wish, will have a free train ride back to Dallas—bikes are fine on the train.

Thanks for passing this around--please mention the event, post it to your site, and let people know we want them!

PS—we are on facebook, too!

Thank you,

Maribeth Lipscomb
Ride Director, Dallas
214-663-2433

Officer Allen Speed
Ride Director, Ft Worth
817-944-2725

John DiCarlantonio
National Ride Director
845-987-4693
jdicarlantonio@woundedwarriorproject.org